The Italian authorities have refused to allow the ship of the Open Arms relief to dock at one of its ports, which led to the survival of the ship at sea under bad weather with more than 70 African refugees on board.
Open Arm relief spokesman said that the relief organization had applied for anchoring in Italy and Malta, but the request was rejected, and Italy proposed to dock the ship in the port city of (Tripoli), Libya.
He added: “We will continue to demand the establishment of a security port to anchor because this is a legal obligation of the government, as stipulated in international agreements. We have people on board the ship need to land them because of health problems”.
“Open Arm Relief ship rescued 73 migrants aboard a rubber boat 50 miles off the Libyan coast on Wednesday evening”
The Spanish Relief Foundation said in an official statement – that Italy allowed the relief ship to enter its territorial waters; to protect against a severe storm, but refused to dock the ship at one of its ports.
For their part, no Italian official commented on the news from the Spanish Relief Foundation.
The Open Arms relief ship had rescued 73 migrants aboard a rubber boat 50 miles off the Libyan coast on Wednesday evening.
Read also: Spain requires distribution agreement before receiving migrants from Open Arms
